Downtrodden, but not broken!!

This discussion concerning how becoming an educated African American has created a more concentrated effort to be sure I do not take my educational access for granted any longer.  In “Lessons From Down Under: Reflections on Meanings of Literacy and Knowledge From an African American Female growing up in Rural Alabama," Besse House –Soremekun vividly describes the hardship and tedious journey we had to endure in the South. 

She explains three different types of situations that contributed to some of the problems as well as the success of becoming literate. 

1)       (Problem) Due to slavery and race (being an African American), early access to literacy was denied or not given the best of what was offered.  We all know that learning how to read and write was forbidden during slavery.  Then to make matters worse, after the end of slavery, African Americans attended and even developed their own school; however, we still did not have the best school equipment and text books. 

2)      ( Problem) Written and Unwritten Laws:  In the South, during the Civil Rights era, laws known as “Jim Crow” laws were created. This law stated that African Americans were “separate but equal”, which allowed blacks access to restaurants, buses, public facilities and schools but had to sit in a separate area (63).  For instance, if we did ride the bus, we had to sit in the back.  The affects of this law is where the unwritten law came into effect.

One problem was that within the school system, there was no African American literature to glean from. 

Besse states “the message I interpreted from such forms of inequality was that Black people were unequal to Whites and had minimal value” (63). 

3)      ( Success) Oral Tradition was highly regarded as very important.  African Americans held on to their oral tradition in order to keep the culture alive.  By doing this, we were able to pass down our history and also teach one another life issues. 

The South really helped develop a determination in our ancestors which has been carried down to our generation.  Despite the hostile environment we had to endure to become equal, we still were able to keep the “fire” alive in us.